JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Just as Drew Brown was wrapping up his senior year at the Art Institute of Jacksonville, he got a phone call from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"I answered the phone and he was like 'he this is Sean from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is this Drew?' I was like 'Yes, this is me. How can I help you?' He said 'I have a question of clarification about your film. I was just wondering if you could come out to L.A. the first week of June because you just won a student Academy Award'," told Brown.

A Student Academy Award is one of the most elite awards for young filmmakers. Brown's senior thesis film "Person" had won in the Alternative category. It took him about 11 weeks to put together and submit.

"I knew I wanted to deal with a subject that isn't really talked about much in in film and I thought transgenderism might be along those lines, because I feel like I haven't seen very many films that represent the transgender community and that type of concept," explained Brown.

His film resonated with the judges from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and during the awards ceremony in Los Angeles, the writers and directors of Disney's "Frozen" presented him with his award.

"All these years of working and studying and doing homework it was all really worth it in the end," said Brown with a smile.

Now the big question, will this award winner head for L.A. or stay here on the First Coast?

"I really want to stay here and work on my craft and hopefully make some more movies," said Brown.